Synergy is My New Favorite Thing
This is by no means a new bit of software, but I’ve finally had a reason to use it, and I couldn’t be more blown away. Synergy (not to be confused with the iTunes control app by Wincent) is more or less a software-based KVM switch…except it’s not…and it’s cooler.
So where a KVM switch allows you to use a single mouse, keyboard, and display with multiple computers, Synergy allows you to use a single mouse and keyboard with multiple computers (and their connected screens). You may be asking yourself - as I was before I used it for myself - “why would that be at all useful?” Perhaps explaining my setup with Synergy will shed a bit more light.
At my office I place my closed Dell notebook in a docking station which has an attached LCD, keyboard, and mouse. On top of the docking station (and next to the LCD) is where my MacBook sits. It’s raised-up a bit, and a minor inconvenience to reach for the trackpad and keyboard, and thus my need for Synergy was realized.
So with Syngery in place, all I have to do is move my cursor from right to left - from my Dell’s LCD to my MacBook’s screen - and the keyboard and mouse that are hooked to my Dell now control my MacBook too! Seeing it in action and realizing just what it’s doing really is the icing on the cake.
So how does it achieve this VooDoo magic? The power of TCP/IP my friends. Each of the versions - OS X, Windows, and Linux - includes a server and a client app. In my case, I’m using the keyboard and mouse attached to the Dell, so it’s setup as my server, while the MacBook is set as the client. The tricky part is that the Mac client runs through the Terminal, so if you’re not comfortable working in the CLI, you may have to take a little more time getting it fully setup. But believe me when I tell you, that once it’s working, it will blow you away.
As far as geekiness goes, this one’s at an 11. I haven’t been this jazzed about a piece of software since Quicksilver changed my life, and we all know the significance of that! But Synergy is pretty niche in what it offers - either you’ve got a multi-system setup that would benefit from it, or you don’t.
#1 ShadowBottle says:This is a must have when using synergy with OS X - http://software.landryhetu.com/synergy/
It’s a gui wrapper that provides a synergy menuling. And yes.. synergy is
#2 Chris says:I’ve been using Synergy in my classroom for a few weeks and love the control! I tend to use hotkeys, though, as opposed to the sides of the screen to make sure I avoid accidental changes. You can also set it to wait at the edge of the screen.
Synergy is the coolest app I’ve seen in a while, but it needs some fixin. Sometimes it will crash and the entire config goes away so be backin up that config file every once in a while.
Chris
#3 Jono says:Sounds good. Any chance of a screencast showing it in action?
I guess it wouldn’t be as straight forward as your usual ones, would need a video camera for this?
#4 flysi says:Sounds very sexy - I use Teleport to accomplish the same thing between my Macs at home, but I don’t know if Teleport works in a multi-platform environment. One of the nice things about Teleport is clipboard support (ie. copy something on one machine, and paste it in the other), and drag-and-drop between machines.
#5 abelara says:if you have a ‘mac only’ setup like i do; you can use teleport by Abyssoft. works just as good and much easier to setup.
#6 Nick Santilli says:Jono - as with anything I’m super hyped about, my first thought was a screencast. But there’s a couple logistical pitfalls:
as you mentioned, a camcorder would be necessary, so less a screencast, than a video production.
And really, once you see it, it’s just watching the cursor move from screen to screen.
but I’ll maybe do a config post - if there becomes any demand for it.
a side note - May’s sorta been a slack month for me blogging wise. I’ve got a BUNCH of posts on the back burners, as well as several screencasts I’ve been wanting to do. So they’ll be back…promise!
#7 Nick Santilli says:ShadowBottle - thanks for the link - good to know!
Abelara - now that you mention it, I have heard of that before, but had forgotten about it. It wouldn’t help in my setup, but it’s a good resource for the mac-only users out there. Thanks!
#8 Charles Barilleaux says:I’ve been using it for a few months now. First, I used it at work, when I was configuring a laptop while doing my normal work. It was a cheesy old Dell, with a cheesy trackpad. I was able to use my laptop (another WIntel) and real mouse. It was also nice for my flow–I could pop over to do something on the Dell while working on other stuff without moving my hands.
At home, I can use my MacBook, and pop over to my daughter’s computer to do something for her (she’s two and a half). Again, don’t move my hands. Before, I practically had to get up.
Definitely a favorite app.
#9 Ken says:Synergy has made my workstation ROCK! I have a MacPro with 2 20 inch monitors, and right next to those is a 17 inch lcd connected to my PC/WindowsXPbox. Synergy allows me to slide my cursor off the right edge of the mac monitors right onto the PC. The keyboard operates the pc when the cursor is there. You can even cut and paste between the two.
As a web developer, I have all my dev sites on the Mac (Apache), and serve them to the network. I can check my sites in 6 Mac browsers, and 6+ PC browsers with one KB and mouse.
While off-topic, I have Multiple versions of IE running on the PC - 7, 6, 5.5, 5.0, 4 and 3. See: http://tredosoft.com/Multiple_IE
#10 Ken says:One more thing: Synergy Config
You can set the corners of the screen to remain on the pass-through side, allowing to keep hot corners on the MAC. I keep 150 pixels of corner reserved for the Mac; and the area inbetween passes through to the PC screen. See SWITCH CORNERS below:
Sample Config:
# sample synergy configuration file
#
# comments begin with the # character and continue to the end of
# line. comments may appear anywhere the syntax permits.
section: screens
MyPCsName:
MyMacsName:
end
section: links
MyPCsName:
left = MyMacsName
MyMacsName:
right = MyPCsName
end
section: aliases
MyPCsName:
192.168.0.3
MyMacsName:
192.168.0.6
end
section: options
switchCorners = right
switchCornerSize = 150
end
#11 Matt J says:Don’t forget QuickSynergy. Nice GUI wrapper, and Universal.
#12 Francisco says:I have used it with three computers, 2 monitors and one 46″ Sony Bravia and it works brilliantly. It even copies text from clipboard to clipboard and you can sync screensavers.
#13 awmyhr says:I’ve been using this for several years now, from job to job and at home. Right now, I’m useing it at work it between my PowerBook, Linux desktop, Solaris desktop, and Windows desktop (that’s right, four screens accross four computers, one keyboard and mouse). Previously, I used it at work with my Powerbook, Solaris desktop, and Windows laptop with external screen (I used both the built in and exteranal screen) - again four screens, but just three computers. It’s one of those “first things” I install whenever I get access to a new system.
#14 Jono says:Here’s a quick screencast showing Synergy in action http://quicksynergy.sourceforge.net/#toc1
#15 ferhat says:I loved it ! Thats just perfect except one thing the Turkish characters are not recognised while using the servers’ keyboard on the clients… Anyway, it is just cool to have only one mouse control over three different computers; ubuntu (on the left), xp (center), os x (on the right [which is an iMac G4 with 700Mhz and i am using CS3 with it
it is amazing !]).
#16 Intrepidsilence says:Actually, as cool as Synergy is, it is actually easier to use OSX2X (http://homepage.mac.com/mdales/osx2x/) which works the same way basically but requires no extra installation on the Mac and only requires the other sysytem be sharing its display with VNC or be an X11 server (like Linux). It is not CLI based and is quite easy to use. Check it out!
#17 SouthernVic says:Would be great to follow a tutorial on the installation for-the-not-so-savy terminal users. SynergyKM still rather buggy. Perhaps you could put something together, Nick? Two screencasts?
#18 Chris Parker says:Synergy, coupled with SynergyKM (as mentioned above) is incredible. Ive been using it at work to share the keyboard and mouse between my Mac and Vista PC for about 6 months now and couldn’t survive without it.
Was an absolute nightmare to set-up without SynergyKM and I still need my Windows mouse handy when Vista pops up UAC messages since Synergy doesn’t work on the secure (ha!) desktop. If anyone knows a workaround that doesn’t involve disabling UAC let me know.
#19 Mathias Källberg says:Chris Parker: Maybe you could let Vista be the server instead (and connect the KM to Vista of course). That should work until Synergy gets a new version out…
#20 Serge Madenian says:As you mentioned in your post Quicksilver changed the way I use computers. I’ve also been using synergy for quite some time to switch between my linux and windows machines.
When I got it working on mac as well, I was thrilled. That is until I left my desk and the systems went to screensaver mode. When I came back, I noticed Quicksilver had crashed. At first I didn’t know why, but I’ve figured out that when synergy goes to screensaver mode, it crashes quicksilver and I’d rather have quicksilver than synergy. That’s why since then I’ve uninstalled synerg.
If anyone has a solution, please let me know.
#21 Ran Cossack says:@Serge Madenian: Tell Synergy not to sync the screensavers. Put this in your config file:
section: options
screenSaverSync = false
end